| Messieurs, vous plat-il d'our | Gentlemen, hear if you please |
| l'air du fameux La Palisse, | the song of famous La Palisse, |
| Il pourra vous rjouir | You may indeed enjoy it |
| pourvu qu'il vous divertisse. | as long as you find it fun. |
| La Palisse eut peu de biens | La Palisse didn't have the means |
| pour soutenir sa naissance, | to pay for his own birth, |
| Mais il ne manqua de rien | But he did not lack anything |
| tant qu'il fut dans l'abondance. | once his riches were plenty. |
| |
| Il voyageait volontiers, | He was quite fond of travel, |
| courant par tout le royaume, | going all over the kingdom, |
| Quand il tait Poitiers, | When he was in Poitiers |
| il n'tait pas Vendme ! | You would not find him in Vendme! |
| Il se plaisait en bateau | He enjoyed a boat ride |
| et, soit en paix soit en guerre, | and, whether in peace or in war, |
| Il allait toujours par eau | He would always go by water |
| quand il n'allait pas par terre. | when he didn't go by land. |
| |
| Il buvait tous les matins | He drank every morning |
| du vin tir de la tonne, | some wine from a barrel, |
| Pour manger chez les voisins | For eating at his neighbors |
| il s'y rendait en personne. | he would always go in person. |
| Il voulait aux bons repas | He preferred at good meals |
| des mets exquis et forts tendres | his dishes to be tasty and tender |
| Et faisait son mardi gras | And had his Mardi Gras |
| toujours la veille des cendres. | always on the eve of Ashes. |
| |
| Il brillait comme un soleil, | He shone like a sun, |
| sa chevelure tait blonde, | his hair was blonde, |
| Il n'et pas eu son pareil, | He would have had no equals |
| s'il et t seul au monde. | had he been the only one. |
| Il eut des talents divers, | He had diverse talents, |
| mme on assure une chose : | some even claimed this: |
| Quand il crivait en vers, | Whenever he wrote in verse, |
| il n'crivait pas en prose. | he did not write in prose. |
| |
| Il fut, la vrit, | He was, to tell the truth |
| un danseur assez vulgaire, | a rather mediocre dancer, |
| Mais il n'et pas mal chant | But he did not sing so bad |
| s'il avait voulu se taire. | if he chose to shut up. |
| On raconte que jamais | They tell that he would never |
| il ne pouvait se rsoudre | have taken the decision |
| charger ses pistolets | of loading his two pistols |
| quand il n'avait pas de poudre. | when he had no ammunition. |
| |
| Monsieur d'la Palisse est mort, | Monsieur d'la Palisse is dead, |
| il est mort devant Pavie, | he died before Padua, |
| Un quart d'heure avant sa mort, | A quarter hour before his death, |
| il tait encore en vie. | he was still quite alive. |
| Il fut par un triste sort | He was by sorry fate |
| bless d'une main cruelle, | wounded by a cruel hand |
| On croit, puisqu'il en est mort, | Since he died of it, we fear |
| que la plaie tait mortelle. | that the wound was a mortal one. |
| |
| Regrett de ses soldats, | Lamented by his soldiers, |
| il mourut digne d'envie, | his death is to be envied, |
| Et le jour de son trpas | And the day of his passing away |
| fut le dernier de sa vie. | was the last day of his life. |
| Il mourut le vendredi, | He died on a Friday, |
| le dernier jour de son ge, | the last day of his age, |
| S'il ft mort le samedi, | Had he died on the Saturday, |
| il et vcu davantage. | he would have lived longer. |
Palice, Jacques de La